Laminating magnetic cores for on-chip magnetic devices

ABSTRACT

A laminating structure includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, a first spacer disposed between the first and second magnetic layers and a second spacer disposed on the second magnetic layer.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to on-chip magnetic devices, and morespecifically, to systems and methods for laminating magnetic cores foron-chip magnetic devices such as inductors and transformers.

On-chip magnetic inductors/transformers are important passive elementswith applications in the fields such as on-chip power converters andradio frequency (RF) integrated circuits. In order to achieve highenergy density, magnetic core materials with thickness ranging several100 nm to a few microns are often implemented. Ferrite materials thatoften used in bulk inductors have to be processed at high temperature(>800° C.), which is incompatible with complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processing. Thus, a majority ofmagnetic materials integrated on-chip are magnetic metals such as nickeliron (Ni—Fe), cobalt iron (Co—Fe), cobalt zirconium titanium (Co—Zr—Ti)and the like. Magnetic metals can be deposited through vacuum depositiontechnologies (i.e., sputtering) or electrodepositing through an aqueoussolution. Vacuum methods have the ability to deposit a large variety ofmagnetic materials and to easily produce laminated structures. However,they usually have low deposition rates, poor conformal coverage, and thederived magnetic films are difficult to pattern. Electroplating has beena standard technique for the deposition of thick metal films due to itshigh deposition rate, conformal coverage and low cost.

SUMMARY

Exemplary embodiments include a laminating structure including a firstmagnetic layer, a second magnetic layer, a first spacer disposed betweenthe first and second magnetic layers and a second spacer disposed on thesecond magnetic layer.

Additional exemplary embodiments include a multi-layer laminatingstructure including a first magnetic unit layer, a second magnetic unitlayer and a spacer disposed between the first and second magnetic unitlayers.

Further exemplary embodiments include a method of fabricating alamination structure, the method including depositing a seed layer on asubstrate, patterning a photoresist layer on the seed layer, forming alamination structure unit within the photoresist layer and removing thephotoresist layer and a portion of the seed layer surrounding thelamination structure.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention. For a better understanding of the invention with theadvantages and the features, refer to the description and to thedrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion ofthe specification. The forgoing and other features, and advantages ofthe invention are apparent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram example of magnetic patterns foran on-chip conductor;

FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional laminating structure that can bemodified in accordance with exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary laminating structure;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary multilayer laminating structure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method for fabricating a laminatingstructure in accordance with exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 5A illustrates a starting structure for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5B illustrates an intermediate structure for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5C illustrates an intermediate structure for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 5D illustrates a final structure for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In exemplary embodiments, the systems and methods described hereinimplement multiple spacer layers to laminate magnetic cores for on-chipmagnetic devices such as inductors and transformers. Compared to ferritematerials, magnetic metals usually have high permeability and highmagnetic flux density which is necessary to achieve high energy densityfor on-chip devices. However, the resistivity of magnetic metals areusually low (<100 μΩ·cm). Since most of the on-chip devices are operatedat high frequencies (>10 MHz), large eddy currents can be induced withinthe respective magnetic core. The consequence is that the high frequencypermeability is dramatically reduced and the loss is very high so thatthe inductors will not function properly at high frequencies.Conventionally, eddy current is reduced by laminating the magnetic coreby insulators so that the eddy current only flows within each magneticlayer. As the thickness of each layer is made thinner, the effectiveresistance within layers becomes larger; hence reducing the eddy.However, it is difficult to electroplate a good insulator, which limitsthe electroplating techniques in magnetic core fabrication. Relativelyhigh resistive materials, such as semiconductor materials, can be platedwith resistivities arranging from (100 μΩ·cm to 10000 μΩ·cm). But theserelatively high resistive layers have to be thick in order to preventthe eddy current flowing between magnetic layers. Depending on theresistivity of the materials, the thickness of these high resistivematerials has to be larger than 100 nm up to a few microns.

Another important property for on-chip magnetic core is magneticdomains. FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic diagram 100 of an example ofmagnetic patterns for an on-chip conductor. For on-chip planerinductors, magnetic anisotropy (i.e. easy and hard axis) needs to bewell defined. In a demagnetized state, the magnetic domain forms aflux-closed configuration at the edges of the pattern (i.e., a closuredomain) as shown in FIG. 1A. At relatively low frequencies, the fluxpropagation (i.e., along the hard axis) is governed by both themagnetization rotation and domain wall movement. Instead of thehysteresis loss, the domain wall movements can also induce local eddycurrent which will add to the total loss. At higher frequencies (>100MHz), only the magnetization rotation contributes to the permeabilitybecause domain wall movement is too slow to move. The inactive fractionparallel to the hard axis within the closure domains will not respond tothe fast magnetic field changes. As such, the high frequencypermeability is reduced. Therefore, reducing or eliminating closuredomains has the potential to reduce the loss and achieve high frequencypermeability, benefitting on-chip inductors. Closure domains can beeliminated also by laminating the magnetic materials with a spacer.However, the requirements for the spacers vary. Compared to the spacersfor eddy-current control, the spacer for magnetic coupling has to benon-magnetic and thin (5-20 nm). However, the spacer can be eitherconductive or resistive.

Conventional electroplating does not provide a thin insulator to fulfillboth requirements for the control of both eddy current and closuredomains. Alternately, plating magnetic films in aqueous solution andthen sputtering insulators in a vacuum can be expensive and timeconsuming. As such, conventional methods typically focus on one type ofspacer in a magnetic core for one of the aforementioned purposes, thatis, either to control eddy current or to remove closure domains. Inexemplary embodiments, the systems and methods described hereinimplement a lamination structure that can both control eddy current andremove closure domains, using two types of spacers in one magnetic core.All the layers (magnetic and spacers) can be electroplated, whichimproves the high frequency performance of the on-chip inductors.

In exemplary embodiments, the systems and methods described hereinimplement two different types of spacer layers to laminate one singlecore. One type is thin and non-magnetic (can be metal e.g., copper (Cu))used to remove closure domain and domain walls. The other type is thickand high resistive (can be semiconductor e.g., selenium (Se) or a Sealloy) used to reduce the eddy current. By implemented the exemplarylamination method, both the domain and eddy current can be controlled sothat the result inductors have better performance. In addition, thewhole structure can be electroplated through aqueous solutions asdescribed further herein.

FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional laminating structure 150 that can bemodified in accordance with exemplary embodiments. The conventionallaminating structure 150 includes alternating magnetic layers 155 andthinner electroplated spacer layers 160 (<20 nm) to control magneticdomains and which can be conductive. The spacer layers 160 can be metalssuch as nickel phosphorous (NiP) or Cu. Each of the electroplated spacerlayers 160 are fabricated relatively thin to ensure the magnetostaticcoupling between the magnetic layers 155 so that the closure domains canbe eliminated. However, because of the relatively low resistivitycombined with the low thickness of the electroplated spacer layers 160,the resistance of the electroplated spacer layers 160 is too low tocontrol eddy current, which means that the eddy currents can easily flowacross the electroplated spacer layers 160, to form a global eddycurrent across the whole structure 150. In exemplary embodiments, thesystems and methods described herein improve the structure 150 so thatboth the closure magnetic domains and eddy currents can be reduced. Asdescribed further herein, both the closure magnetic domains and eddycurrents can be reduced by introducing two different types of spacerlayers.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary laminating structure 200. The laminatingstructure includes magnetic layers 205 with a thin spacer layer 210disposed between the magnetic layers 205 to form individual units, shownin FIG. 2A as units 201, 202. A spacer layer 215 is disposed between theunits 201, 202. The material spacer layer 215 is thicker relative to thespacer layers 210. As described herein, the spacer layers 210 are thin(<300 angstroms (Å)) relative to the spacer layer 215, and control themagnetic domains. The spacer layers 210 can be conductive. The spacerlayer 210 can be about 5-30 nm thick and can be materials including butnot limited to copper (Cu), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), rubidium (Ru),gold (Au), silver (Ag), selenium (Se), tellurium (Te), sulfur (S),phosphorous (P), gallium (Ga), chromium (Cr), rhenium (Re), indium (In),tin (Sn), nickel phosphorous (NiP), and nickel boron (NiB) and their nonmagnetic alloys that can be electrochemically reduced. The spacer layer215 controls the eddy current and can be a high resistive material. Thespacer layer 215 is about 100 nm up to 1 μm, and can be materialsincluding but not limited to semiconductor metals such as Se, bismuth(Bi), Te, P, S, germanium (Ge), antimony (Sb), Si and their alloys thatcan be electrochemically reduced.

In exemplary embodiments, the total thickness of the units is within askin depth of the conductor. The skin depth is defined as the depthbelow the surface of the conductor at which the current density hasfallen to 1/e (about 0.37) of surface current density. In a magneticmaterial, the skin depth can also be treated as the flux density decayto 1/e. When the thickness of the magnetic materials is larger than skindepth, the eddy current will be dramatically increased, and the centerof the magnetic material will experience little flux. As such, eachmagnetic layer 205 is below skin depth for the structure 200. Differentmagnetic materials have different skin depths because the skin depth δrelates to the resistivity and permeability of the material, and alsothe operation frequency as shown in the equation:

$\delta = \sqrt{\frac{2\rho}{\omega\mu}}$

In the equation, p is the resistivity, ω is the operating frequency andμ is the permeability. The skin depth can range from 50 nm up to 1-2microns.

As such, the structure 200 utilizes the thin and non-magnetic spacerlayer 210 to separate the magnetic layers 205 in each unit 201, 202.Magneto-static coupling between the magnetic layers 205 through thespacer layers 210 removes the closure domains. In exemplary embodiments,the total thickness of the two magnetic layers 205 plus the non-magneticspacer layer 210 is less than the skin depth in order to minimize eddycurrents. As described herein, the high resistive spacer layer 215 theunits 201, 202. This thicker spacer layer 215 controls eddy currents. Inexemplary embodiments, multiple additional units can be repeated to formmultilayers. FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary multilayer laminatingstructure 300. The multilayer laminating structure 300 include severalunits similar to as described with respect to FIG. 2. Each of the units310, 302, 303, 304 includes magnetic layers 305 with a thin spacer layer310 disposed between the magnetic layers 305. Each of the units areseparated by the thicker spacer layer 315 as described with respect toFIG. 2

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart of a method 400 for fabricating alaminating structure in accordance with exemplary embodiments. FIG. 5Aillustrates a starting structure 500 for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3. At block 410,a seed layer 525 is deposited on a substrate 520. The substrate 520 canbe any standard semiconductor substrate including, but not limited to,silicon (Si). The seed layer 525 can be any sputtered metal including,but not limited to, Cu and nickel ferrite (Ni—Fe). FIG. 5B illustratesan intermediate structure 502 for an exemplary laminated structure suchas described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3. At block 420, a photoresistlayer 530 is patterned on the seed layer 525. The photoresist layer 530can be any photosensitive patternable polymer. The patterning techniquesimplemented can also be any conventional photolithography technique.FIG. 5C illustrates an intermediate structure 504 for an exemplarylaminated structure such as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3. Atblock 430, each of the magnetic layers 505, spacer layer 510 and thickerspacer layer 515 are grown in the patterned photoresist layer 530. Thelayers 505, 510, 515 are alternated and grown to thicknesses asdescribed herein with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3. In exemplaryembodiments, the plating of multi-layers involve three different platingbaths, one for the magnetic layers 505, one for the thin spacer layer510 and another one for the thick spacer layers 515. In other exemplaryembodiments, the thin spacer layer 510 sometimes can plated in the samebath as the magnetic layers 505, (e.g. Ni—Fe/Cu/Ni—Fe as furtherdescribed herein). In exemplary embodiments, the plating is done byswitching the wafer containing the structure 504 among the baths withthorough rinsing in between. In addition, the spacer layers 515 can beelectroplated with Se or Se alloys.

The plating bath solutions contain surfactant additives that markedlyenhance the low-potential selenium deposition and avoid forming seleniumparticles at high potential while maintaining a high deposition rate.The presence of the surfactant additives in the plating bath promotesformation of continuous selenium and further enhances the first reactionso that a high deposition rate can still be maintained. In addition, theplating method produces continuous and particle-free selenium andselenium-alloy films.

The Se electroplating bath solution may be prepared by: i) dissolving adesired amount of at least one Se ion source, such as selenous acid(i.e., H₂SeO₃; also referred to as selenious acid) or selenium oxide(SeO₂) or mixtures thereof in a solvent such as water; ii) adding to thesolution at least one soluble surfactant additive; and iii) adjustingthe pH of the solution by adding an acid. Exemplary non-limiting acidsinclude sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and the like. Thepresence of the at least one surfactant additive has been found topromote formation of a continuous selenium coating and further enhancethe first reaction so that a high deposition rate can still bemaintained.

The total concentration of the Se ions in the bath may vary over a widerange depending on the desired properties. Se metal ions are present inthe plating bath in an amount from about 0.001 to about 1 molar (M). Inother embodiments, the Se metal ion present in the bath is about 0.01 toabout 1 M, and in still other embodiments, the Se metal ion present inthe bath is about 0.1 to about 1 M.

The surfactant additive is a lower alkane sulfonic acid or lower alkanephosphonic acid or salt thereof of the general formulae: RSO₃H, andRH₂PO₃, where R is an alkyl group containing from about 1 to about 25carbon atoms. In other embodiments, R is an alkyl group containing fromabout 1 to 18 carbon atoms, and in still other embodiments, R is analkyl group containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms. The alkyl group may bebranched or linear. Suitable surfactant additives of the general formulaabove are soluble in the selected solvent, e.g., water. Non-limitingalkane sulfonic acid surfactant additives includes, without limitation,propane sulfonic acid, 2-propane sulfonic acid, decanesulfonic acid,undecanesulfonic acid, and the like Non-limiting alkane phosphonic acidsurfactant additives includes, without limitation, propylphosphonicacid, butylphosphoinic acid, hexylphosphonic acid, octylphosphonic acid,dodecylphosphonic acid, and the like. The surfactant additive is solublein the selected solvent, (e.g., water).

In exemplary embodiments, the concentration of the surfactant additivein the plating baths is about 1 milligram to 1 gram per liter. In otherembodiments, the concentration of the surfactant additive in the platingbaths is about 5 to 750 milligrams per liter, and in still otherembodiments, the concentration of the surfactant additive in the platingbaths is about 10 to 250 milligrams per liter.

Although water is the preferred solvent in the formulation of theplating baths, it should be appreciated that organic solvents may alsobe added in the formulation, partially or wholly replacing the water.Such organic solvents include, but are not limited to, alcohols,acetonitrile, propylene carbonate, formamide, dimethyl sulfoxide,glycerin, etc.

Optionally, the electroplating bath may further include other additivestypically employed in electroplating baths including, but not limitedto, organic aids, brighteners, buffers, chelating species, and the like.Exemplary brighteners are well known and generally include sulfonamides,sulfonimdies, benzene sulfonic acids, napthalenesulfonic acids, and thelike. Exemplary chelating species include ethylenediamine tetraaceticacid (EDTA), ethylenediaminetetra-2-hydroxypropoane (quadrol), malicacid, citric acid, mannitol, sorbitol, and the like.

The pH of the selenium electroplating solution in accordance with thepresent disclosure may be adjusted to the range of about 2 to about 4.In still other embodiments, the pH is adjusted to about 3 to about 4.

The electroplating bath operating temperature can generally range fromabout 15° C. to about 45° C. In some embodiments, the electroplatingbath operating temperature is at about 18 to about 25° C. In still otherembodiments, the electroplating bath operating temperature is at aboutroom temperature, e.g., about 20 to about 22° C.

Plating current densities are typically on the order of about 0.5 toabout 20 mA/cm² and deposition times may vary from about 30 minutes toseveral hours or more. In other embodiments, the current densities areabout 1 to about 10 mA/cm² and in still other embodiments, the currentdensities are about 1 to about 5 mA/cm². Although DC voltage/current canbe utilized during the electrodeposition processes, it should be notedthat pulsed or other variable voltage/current sources may also be usedto obtain high plating efficiencies and high quality deposits. If apulsed current is used, the current density will generally be higher,e.g., about double the current density in the steady state.

A number of sequential electroplating and annealing steps may beutilized to obtain the desired thickness of the spacer layers 510, 515on the structure 504. In addition, the electroplating process and Seelectroplating solutions described herein can be used to form Se alloyfilms.

As described herein, the structure 504 is placed directly into a platingbath solution prepared as described herein. The electroplating solutioncan include a Se source and one or more surfactant additives selectedfrom the group consisting of alkane sulfonic acids, alkane phosphonicacid, salts thereof, and mixtures thereof. In addition to the Se sourceand the surfactant additive, the electroplating solution may furthercontain one or more metal salts. The particular metal salt(s) useddepends on the desired composition of the layers 510, 515. By way ofexample only, the electroplating solution can include a Cu salt, a Gasalt, a combination of a Cu salt, a Zn salt and a Sn salt and the like.Suitable Cu, In, Ga, Zn and Sn salts are described herein.Electroplating is then used to form the spacer layers 510, 515 asdescribed herein. The plating time can be tailored to the desiredthickness of the resultant absorber layer, with a longer plating timebeing used to attain a thicker layer. According to an exemplaryembodiment, the spacer layers 510, 515 are formed on the substrate to athickness of from about 1 nm to about 1 micrometer (m).

Alternatively, the Se layer can be directly plated onto Cu, In or Gacontaining surfaces to form precursor stacks having variousconfigurations. Such configurations include, but are not limited toCu/In/Se, Cu/In/Ga/Se, Cu—Ga/In/Se, and the like. In a two-stageprocess, controlled amounts of Cu, In, Ga and Se are electrodeposited inthe form of Cu, In, Ga and Se containing thin film precursor stacks suchas Cu/In/Ga/Se, Cu/Ga/In/Se, In/Cu/Ga/Se, Ga/Cu/In/Se, In/Ga/Cu/Ga/Se,In/Ga/Cu/In/Se, Ga/In/Cu/Ga/Se, Ga/In/Cu/In/Se, Cu/Ga/Cu/In/Se,Cu/In/Cu/Ga/Se or the like. These stacks may then be annealed, orreacted, optionally with more Se, sulfur (S), tellurium (Te) or sodium(Na), to form a uniform thin film of a Se alloy or compound on thecontact layer. By controlling the thickness and morphology of the Cu,In, and Ga as well as Se layers within the precursor stacks, the processyield in terms of compositional control may be improved compared to theprior-art methods.

FIG. 5D illustrates a final structure 506 for an exemplary laminatedstructure such as described with respect to FIGS. 2 and 3. Once thedesired electroplating processes as described herein have been performedto form the layers 505, 510, 515, the photoresist layer 530 is removedby standard resist removal techniques. In addition, the seed layer 525is removed around the unit 501 (i.e., the magnetic layers 505 and spacerlayer 510) and spacer layer 515 up to the substrate 520 by standardetching techniques. It is appreciated that the unit 501 and spacer layer515 are similar to the exemplary laminated structures 200, 300 of FIGS.2 and 3.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of onemore other features, integers, steps, operations, element components,and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated

The flow diagrams depicted herein are just one example. There may bemany variations to this diagram or the steps (or operations) describedtherein without departing from the spirit of the invention. Forinstance, the steps may be performed in a differing order or steps maybe added, deleted or modified. All of these variations are considered apart of the claimed invention.

While the preferred embodiment to the invention had been described, itwill be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in thefuture, may make various improvements and enhancements which fall withinthe scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construedto maintain the proper protection for the invention first described.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multi-layer laminating structure consisting of:a magnetic unit layer consisting of first and second magnetic layers anda conductive non-magnetic spacer layer therebetween; at least oneadditional magnetic unit layer consisting of first and second magneticlayers and a conductive non-magnetic spacer layer therebetween, whereinthe conductive non-magnetic spacer layer is at a thickness of 5nanometers to 30 nanometers, wherein the conductive non-magnetic spacerlayers are non-magnetic materials selected from the group consisting ofmolybdenum, zinc, rubidium, gold, silver, selenium, tellurium, sulfur,phosphorous, gallium, chromium, rhenium, indium, tin, nickelphosphorous, nickel boron, and non-magnetic alloys thereof; and aresistive spacer disposed between the first and at least one additionalmagnetic unit layers, wherein the resistive spacer is a resistivematerial selected from the group consisting of selenium, bismuth,tellurium, phosphorous, sulfur, germanium, antimony, and alloys thereofthat can be electrochemically reduced, wherein the resistive spacer isat a thickness of 100 nm to 1 μm, wherein the resistive spacer isthicker and more resistive than the conductive non-magnetic spacerlayers in the magnetic unit layer and the at least one additionalmagnetic layer, and wherein each one of the first and second magneticlayers in the magnetic unit layer and the at least one additionalmagnetic unit layer is at a thickness less than a skin depth.
 2. Thestructure as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a seed layer disposedon the first magnetic layer of the magnetic unit layer and the at leastone additional magnetic layer.
 3. The structure as claimed in claim 2further comprising a substrate disposed on the seed layer.
 4. Thestructure as claimed in claim 1 wherein the conductive non-magneticspacer layers of the magnetic unit layer and the at least one additionalmagnetic layer removes closure domains in the structure viamagneto-static coupling between the first and second magnetic layers. 5.The structure as claimed in claim 4 wherein the resistive spacer reduceseddy current in the structure.